Political Roundup for April 18th, 2018…Ryan and the Grand Ole’ Party?…RRH Elections…

I Didn’t Leave the GOP, the GOP Left Me: Despite ostensibly retiring to “spend more time with his family,” the subtext of Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Janesville) retirement suggests a man once deemed the future of the party has been cast aside. The Economist summed it up beautifully in the following paragraph: “Paul Ryan’s Republican Party cast government debt as both worrying and wicked: a betrayal of the next generation of Americans. It backed free trade and praised immigrants for their work ethic. Mr Ryan spent years telling rank-and-file conservatives that their dislike of government welfare was not mean-spirited but kindly. Delegates at the Republican National Convention in 2012 cheered when he accused Democrats of offering ‘a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us.’ Above all, Mr Ryan stood for a credo that America is ‘the only nation founded on an idea, not an identity.’ That idea, he would explain with a catch in his voice, is the notion that the condition of your birth should not determine the outcome of your life.”

The magazine’s words stood in stark contrast to Donald Trump who, as the Republican nominee four years later, would wholeheartedly, and successfully, embrace many of the politics Paul Ryan decried. My, how quickly politics changes….

Reader Interactions

Comments

The latest in Missouri–embattled Governor Eric Greitens has filed a temporsry restraining order against his fellow Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley. This comes a day after Hawley said he has evidence Greitens illegally obtained a charity donor list.

Greitens is refusing increasing calls from his own party to resign.

Republicans are getting worried that this rancor in the party will not only spoil any chance they had at knocking off McCaskill this fall but may also put Ann Wagner’s congressional district in jeopardy.

Great update Scott. Let’s hope Governor Bondage hangs in there. I am sure the outrage from Republicans will match the one we were subjected to when a photo of Al Franken emerged of him with his hands levitating over a Kevlar vest.

Yeah if Greitens doesn’t quit he will likely be impeached. But that could take months and will keep the state party divided. Much like Trump Greitens has support from Republican voters who think he is “draining the swamp” and those opposed to him are “RINOs”. And just like Trump Greitens is a recent convert to the party that is now scurrying to shove him under the rug.

While I will defer to Scott on this, I had the don’t see how Greitens can survive. He doesn’t appear to have many friends in the legislature. My best guess is thst if he doesn’t resign, he will be impeached.